Bizav Basics

If you've thought about selling your aircraft, you have lots of company. This is a buyer's market-and a fast-changing one. "A Falcon 2000EX might be worth $22 million until a similar serial number appears for sale for $20 million and sells for $17.5 million, altering the entire market," commented one broker.

There are times when leasing an aircraft makes more sense than buying one outright-including times like these. Leasing can offer several advantages over purchasing, and the turmoil currently rocking the global aircraft marketplace has only amplified these benefits. So how can you determine whether a lease is right for you? Consider these seven factors:

Suze Orman didn't pause before answering when I asked whether she'd ever considered replacing her charter flights with a fractional jet share. "I think they're rip-offs," said the personal-finance guru, in an interview that appeared in our April/May 2009 issue.

It's understandable that no equivalent to your local auto-parts store exists for business jets. Aircraft maintenance records must be documented scrupulously, and the pedigree of every nut, bolt and washer has to be recorded for possible FAA review. So, when it comes time to replace a fuel pump or engine mount-or even a tire-it makes a difference where the part comes from.

Fewer than a dozen airplane manufacturers account for the vast majority of business jets and turboprops being built today. Here are the key facts about each of those manufacturers, including data on their parent companies, their 2008 business aircraft sales and the models they offer.

On a recent airline flight, a CNBC reporter noted a businessman, whom he did not know, sitting one row ahead and across the aisle from him. "For nearly the entire five-hour flight from Newark to Los Angeles," the businessman's laptop computer "was wide open," wrote the reporter, who covers the pharmaceutical industry.

Much has been written recently by defenders of business aviation about the 5,000 airports accessible to our aircraft in the U.S. That compares with the estimated 500 that accept airline service and the approximately 70 airports that handle the vast majority of airline flights.

Anyone who has owned an airplane knows that finding the right place to keep it is no small task. In fact, the job is likely much more involved than first-time buyers ever imagine when they begin to consider aircraft ownership. Obtaining financing, finding insurance, hiring a crew, arranging maintenance-even redoing the interior and paint job-are likely all high on their list of things to do.

Lavatories on corporate and privately owned airplanes run the gamut from none at all to luxuriously appointed throne rooms fit for royalty. If you take nothing else away from this little essay, please remember: When flying on an unfamiliar airplane, you need to ask ahead of time what facilities, if any, will be available. Then plan your meal and drink schedule accordingly.